How Mathias Boe has helped Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty become a force to reckon with
The doubles pair have been training under the Danish coach to further hone their skills
Mathias Boe has conquered almost all summits in badminton. Along with fellow compatriot, Carsten Mogensen he has finished on the Olympic Podium at London 2012, won a couple of medals at the World Championship, and has dominated the European circuit for over a decade. Right from his playing days, he has preferred perfection over results and in his very first meeting, with Chirag Shetty and Satwik Reddy, India's doubles pair in the Olympics, he had made his philosophy clear to them.
"He told us that I can't promise you that I will make you an Olympic champion in Tokyo but you will definitely be a better player in Tokyo," reminisced Reddy to Olympics.com before flying to Japan.
For more than six months, the duo have been training under the Danish instructor and they already feel that they have taken their game several notches higher than before.
"We have been training for four months in a particular style. We experimented with those at some of the tournaments. We stuck to the new game and remained committed to it. It has been perfected pretty well now and we are going to play in the same way in the Olympics. It will help us in the long term," stated Reddy.
His doubles Chirag Shetty echoed the same sentiment. They had a mixed bag of results in 2021. In the Swiss Open and in the All England Open, they were defeated by the same Danish pair of Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen in the semifinals. In spite of the two losses, they are not perturbed.
"We didn't play to the best of our abilities. But it is a different kind of game. I can always go back to the playing style that I have been following all these years. But it is necessary to invent yourself and try something new."
They feel that it was important to stick to their new style even if they did not achieve the desired results in 2021.
"It is not only important to challenge them on the net, but also we need to start the rallies and convert them into attacks," opined Shetty.
Boe plans their training sessions in advance and every nitty-gritty is well taken care of. In Tokyo, against whom and when they are going to train was planned well ahead of time. The Dane is known for his anticipation and game reading skills and he is now using those traits to help his two wards.
"He has won the All England (Open) as a player and he knows the court so well. During the matches, he was telling us about what kind of drift we can expect and also about the opponent's tactics. He has played against the best and he knows how to play the best. His insights on individual athletes can be game-changers during crunch moments," revealed Reddy.
In Tokyo, the young Indian pair are definitely not favourites for a podium finish. However, their new technique and Boe's wealth of experience in major tournaments makes them formidable challengers who can trump any opponent on their day.
They begin their campaign against Chinese Taipei's Wang Chi-Lin and Lee Yang on Saturday morning.